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The Rift Curse
The Rift Curse is the name for a series of tomes recording the history of how Rifts formed on the land of Belenus and the adventures of the heroes who finally discovered, through great sacrifice, how to close them. The Beginnings The story of The Rift Curse begins with the penultimate Emperor of the Mam Dynasty, Third Dynasty of The Kingdom of O'Sine. It is said that as part of efforts to "revitalize" the Vei, who had been dwindling despite their long lives because of rampant infertility, The Emperor Mam'rai first discovered the way to open rifts into the "The Plane of the Mirrored Sky." The Rifts oozed a silver mana that The Vei could absorb within themselves, restoring them in ways they hadn't even known they needed to feel restored. And within the year, Mam'rai's Queen had produced triplets, three sisters - a first in the Vei world where all births were of a male and female twin. The Emperor Mam'rai was an excellent Magus, and his Rift at the imperial palace was perfectly contained. But as word spread on how the silver mana could reverse what ailed the Vei, more and more of the Vei populace began opening up their own Rifts. Vei power and its population boomed. But the rumors of small accidents - from strange and dangerous creatures that had emerged from the Rift holes, to disappearing rooms or people - were also spreading. The 1359KO Tragedy of Kuronmin The first large-scale Rift accident was the 1359KO (Kingdom O'Sine) destruction of an entire township in what was then the Min Province. The town of Kuronmin, some 800 people strong, suffered and was swallowed up by an invasion by Archdemons from the Plane of the Mirrored Sky. Mam'rai sent forces to combat the demons, but the Rift had already spread to encompass the entire town. Ultimately, his skills were only enough to stop the Rift from growing further. He had no way of completely sealing it. In quick succession, equally large ones began opening up around the entire kingdom. Much effort was spent battling what came out of the Rift, and in 1404, Mam'rai walked through one and was never seen again. Kaephryn the Alabaster Mam'rai's sister Mamna was called from her quiet professorship on Tanrei Island to become Empress in the Interim. Her attempt to control the crisis was to commission a young and extremely talented priestess named Kaephryn, an albino Vei with a talent for conversing across dimensions. The tale of Kaephryn's long journey to find a way to close the Rifts, and the companions she made along the way, makes up ten of the twelve tomes of The Rift Curse, and their stories are considered a common cultural touchstone across all of Belenus. Equally as famous are her seven companions - Prince Baer Grayswallow (nee King Baer of Grayswallow); Princess Miyosuyi of Chekawaru, Sunny the Saboteur, Alligator Boy, Hippo Boy, Vali the Digger (nee Chief Vali of Snovdenoska) and the Demon-God Pand - as well as the Lady Helenyasu (nee Queen of Helman), whose work supporting from the sidelines was recognized as equally courageous and masterful. Ultimately, Kaephryn was successful and in 1390KO, the first major Rift was sealed, but at the cost of her life. Her companions brought back the method for Rift Sealing to Duskglider Hall. Rift Sealers By that time, nearly 2/3rds of the entire population of Maeykka had been destroyed. Empress Mamna decided to dissolve the O'Sine kingdom and prevent Vei from ever using such dangerous spells again. Mamna converted Duskglider Hall and its surrounding city into The Academy, a new learning institution that would build on the knowledge Kaephryn had unlocked and find ways to deal with the Rift. She formalized this in the Contract for The Academy, which also carved O'sine into lands to be ruled without Vei - Snovdenoska to the Far North, Grayswallow to the East, Helman to the South and Chekewaru to the West. Remaining Vei congregated on Tanrei Island, in part to avoid being persecuted for their "responsibility for the Rifts." Time after the Contract of the Academy is denoted as For many, many years, each Rift required the sacrifice of one brave Sealer. Then in 30 AE (Academy Era), they made a breakthrough, finding a way for Sealer teams to possibly come back fully alive. Soon afterwards, Prince Renba of Grayswallow proposed The Rift Concordant, allowing the civilian populace of Belenus to partake in the act of Rift Sealing.